Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has retired a year early following controversy over his handling of the Dural caravan hoax.
Rumours Mr Kershaw was set to resign began circulating among the rank-and-file on the weekend, and came just days after he dined with FBI Director Kash Patel during his US counterpart’s secret visit to Australia in Sydney last week.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who also attended the dinner with Mr Patel, said that Mr Kershaw had flagged his intention to retire early weeks ago, and said the top cop was leaving with his “head held high”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked Mr Kershaw for his service in Canberra on Monday, saying he had achieved an “enormous amount” since being appointed in 2019.
Mr Albanese confirmed AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett as his replacement, and welcomed her to the role where she will serve as the first female head of the AFP.
Ms Barrett, whose five-year term will start on October 4, said she was honoured to accept the position and said she never imagined leading the organisation while starting as an administrative assistant in the Melbourne office at age 21.
“As commissioner, I will ensure the AFP continues to keep Australians safe, protects the vulnerable, and identifies and disrupts an emerging cohort of criminals who have mixed motivations and threaten our national security,” Ms Barrett said.
“I promise I will be your champion. I promise I will do this uniform proud for you. And to every Australian, I will be devoted to protecting you and our way of life, and I commit to working as hard as I can every single day, like every AFP commissioner before me.”
Mr Kershaw’s retirement comes after he came under criticism for refusing to say when he briefed Mr Albanese about an explosives-filled caravan found in Dural near Sydney that was declared an anti-Semitic terror plot by NSW Premier Chris Minns but later confirmed by the AFP to be a hoax.
Mr Minns is also under scrutiny over the hoax, which he used to ram through unpopular new “hate speech” laws, which are now the subject of a parliamentary inquiry into whether parliament was “misled” into passing the legislation.
The inquiry heard in April that a senior NSW Police investigating officer was informed 11 days before the laws passed about the real motivation behind the caravan – a plan by an overseas organised crime figure to allegedly negotiate reduced sentences – but forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement by the AFP.
Mr Kersaw is a former child protection investigation who led the NT Police before his AFP appointment in 2019, and when then-Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus extended his contract by two years in 2024 the AFP listed countering child exploitation as one of his main priorities.
Header image: Left, Reece Kershaw. Right, Krissy Barrett (AFP).
